As noted in provisional U.S. application Ser. No. 61/016,190 filed on Dec. 21, 2007, which has been incorporated by reference, a class of analytical instruments known as single particle mass spectrometers has been used to characterize particles. Single particle mass spectrometers in general are instruments that sample individual small particles from the air, typically determine their size in some way, desorb and ionize them using one or more lasers, and collect mass spectra of the resulting ions. One type of single particle mass spectrometer is the Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (ATOFMS). Another type of single particle mass spectrometer is the Rapid Single Particle Mass Spectrometer (RSPMS). However, each type of known single particle mass spectrometers has drawbacks.
Therefore, it would be desirable to overcome such disadvantages, allowing characterization of particles with high accuracy and minimal cost.